A world-renowned pianist with local ties will be performing a surprise concert at an intimate Maple Ridge venue.
Encouraged by the success of their last concert, the Maple Ridge Music Society is offering this last concert for their 41st season at Westacres.
Pianist Carter Johnson, a cousin of the Davison family, six-generation dairy farmers in Maple Ridge, has performed with orchestras including the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Americas, and his playing has been broadcasted by CBC Radio and medici.tv.
Currently a resident of Connecticut in the United States, his accolades include first prizes in international competitions such as: the 2023 Concours Étoiles du piano; the 2021 International Competition of Polish Music; the 2020 Valsesia International Competition; and the 2023 Weatherford College International Competition.
Johnson was also recently awarded the Most Promising Pianist not Proceeding to the Final in the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition.
In 2018, he won the top prize in two of Canada’s most important competitions, garnering both the grand prize in the OSM Competition and the first prize in the CMC Stepping Stone competition.
He has also competed in the Santander International Competition, the Shenzhen International Concerto Competition, the Horowitz International Competition Kyiv-Geneva, the Dublin International Competition, and the Hilton Head International Competition.
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Westacres is a house owned by Josine Eikelenboom on a 20 acre property just outside of downtown Maple Ridge where concerts are held in a large music room.
“It seems that people enjoy the house-concert format at Westacres, for the intimacy and close contact with the performers,” said Eikelenboom, after a performance by Opera Pro Cantanti packed the venue for Valentine’s Day.
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Johnson will be presenting a program of German composer Robert Schumann from Davidsbundlertanze and French composer Francis Poulenc from L’Histoire de Babar, Le Petit Elephant, a musical story about the little elephant named Babar, which is played and narrated simultaneously by the pianist.
The concert takes place at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, at Westacres, 23575 - 124 Ave., Maple Ridge.
Admission is by donation, suggested $35, and free for students.
Seats can be secured by email: mapleridgemusicsociety@gmail.ca or by phone 604 467-3162.
For more information about Carter Johnson go to: carterjohnsonpianist.com.